The subtitle. title of this course was supposed to be "beyond newswriting." See! There it is on our syllabus. But we keep coming back to the basics -- reporting, in other words -- because you never get beyond reporting.
In the news today, along with the political news about U.S. involvement in Iraq, is a poll by ABC News, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) and the Japanese broadcaster NHK that finds "deepening dissatisfaction with conditions in Iraq, lower ratings for the national government and growing rejection of the U.S. role there."
At least in the U.S., it's what we call a sidebar story, one that kind of stands off to the side of the main news about Gen. David Petraeus' long-awaited report on the U.S. military "surge" in Iraq.
This time the sidebar has a sidebar of its own, a story on how the poll was done. I think it's a masterpiece of reporting.
Read it, and we'll discuss it in class.
A couple of things to think about: (1) How does this kind of reporting give a different view from that of the Iraqi priests who spoke at Springfield-Benedictine? How is it the same? (2) Should American media join with the Brits and Japanese to do a poll that some observers would say undercuts U.S. foreign policy in Iraq? Why? Why not? What are the principles to be balanced here?
TEACHING B/LOG started out as a classroom teacher's journal/log with notes and comment on the politics of higher ed and learning outcomes assessment at a small liberal arts college. After several years on hiatus, it was revived in 2014 as a portal to updates and commentary on corporate school "reform," politics and the creation of a hereditary aristocracy in 21st-century America
13 comments:
I was not at the priests' presentation, but i can do my best to comment on this story anyhow. This survey is proof that this war is bad not only for america, but for the entire world. There is clearly no good coming from this fuckup of a war. the american people arent happy, countries around the world are not happy, and even the people that we are "liberating" are reporting that things are unchanged, and even worse than they were before. I guess that even with sadaam gone, there are other evil dictators killing people. something must be done, this shit is getting rediculous. if everyone is so unhappy with the way things are going, how is this still being allowed to continue. bush is still going to smirk and lie and justice will never be served.
This poll shows that people do not feel that security in Iraq is good or let alone getting safer, they feel that it is getting worse. "The big picture remains bleak" sums up this entire article in terms of how the Iraqi people feel. This story slogs through an incredible amount of data, an the writer does a good job of explaining everything. However, it still shows how the war is not well liked at all by many people and as stated above how people still don't feel safe.
(ZKirch post isn't working again, so I had to make up this new one)
I think that this report is very similar to what the Iraqi priests were saying a couple of weeks ago. The only difference was that this report was a little easier to understand.
There is no real issue, in my opinion, with ABC News joining the BBC and the NHK by doing this poll. While at this point, most people view this war as a disaster and a mistake, it is still a good thing to know what the Iraqi people are saying and what they are going through, and not just what the U.S. government says the Iraqi people are going through.
1.) The article gives a more widespread perspective regarding the war in Iraq, polling people from various areas within the country. Their views are very similar to those of the Iraqi priests -- they are pessimistic and feel that the current situation in Iraq is not going well. However, they do not entirely blame America; they also consider Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria to be key players in the continuing problems faced in the country.
2.) Only if it is objective and not meant to serve a specific agenda (anti-war/pro-war). The principles to be balanced are truth and objectivity. They should also make sure that they poll a variety of people from different backgrounds and political affiliations.
This article paints a rather different picture of Iraq. Both the speakers and the article show a bleak and pathetic Iraq, but hte priests seemed to have some hope. ABC,BBC,and NHK's poles seem hopeless. Things just seem to be getting worse and worse. Also the priests, though unsure what should be done, did not support the withdrawl of U.S. troups. accroding to these polls 47% of Iraqis think that the U.S. should withdrawl. I was amazed at the difference between the support that the priests seemed to hold for the United States, and the hope they had. I thought maybe this was an Iraqi majority. I proven wrong when the polls said that 57% of Iraqis find violene against the United States acceptable.
The United States media should do these kinds of polls. My must United States news first be filtered through the mouths of politicians. To go back to the Journalism code of ethics this kind of pole finds truth and reports it, minimalizes anyones real harm, and is INDEPENDENT! Well, that's just mythoughts.
The way that the reporters were describing things Iraq is very similar to what the Iraqi priests were telling us a couple of weeks ago. The civilians in Iraq are just plain scared. I can see how, some civilian carry two different I.D.s with different sounding names so they don't cause conflict with whomever stops them. The Iraqi priests said similar happenings in their appearance at S.C.I.
i think this interview is a lot like the one from the priests. it even talks about some of the same things they talked about. with this report, i think we get to hear more from the iraqi people, rather than just two who are just passing through SCI, maybe.
i honestly think it doesnt matter. everyone is going to have thier own reasoning on this, and i dont know? i could see where it would come in as a good thing like this and inform people, who might not know what is going on as much, and i can see where it might go the other way and go bad as well.
The reporters and the priest were similar in the way they talked about Iraq. That the Iraqi people didn't feel safe.
This report is very similar to the reports given by the Iraqi priests a few weeks ago. My thoughts are positive in that I think it gives us great insight to hear reports straight from the Iraqi people's mouths. I agree with Mitch in that it is good to hear straight from the mouths of the Iraqi people and not just from the mouths of the US reporters here in America. Though the reports are similar and validate the fact the Iraqi's don't feel safe and that the war is a negative thought, it also solidifies the fact the current situation is not impossible to deal with, and the blame is not soley placed on the US.
This report is different of the Iraqui priests only in the fact that the report does a better job at explaining what is going on. The report still gives the same opinion that the Iraqi priests have and also backs them up with statistics.
I do think that the American media should join with the Brits and Japan to do this poll because someone in the U.S. should be studying this anyway. How would we know if the United States is doing their job and reaching thier goal if we don't research it ourselves. And if we don't research it, we won't totally trust another country's findings on this subject.
This kind of reporting gives a different view from that of the Iraqi priests who spoke at Springfield-Benedictine because it is a poll of more than just 2 people. This survey was based on the face-to-face interviews of over 2,000 Iraqis where as the interview at Springfield College with the priests was the perspective of just 2 individuals and their personal experiences while being in Iraq. It is the same because the findings within the survey coorelates with what the priests said at the interview.
I believe that people are spending more time interviewing Iraqis instead of doing something about the disaster going on in the Middle East and it speaks volumes about the American media. We send our troops over seas for damn near five years now and obviously what we are doing over there isnt really effective. I think that it is a disappointment that we have to continue on with this war when there is no real progress. If we were actually doing something worth a damn in the Middle East I would be all for what we are doing...however, in my eyes i dont believe that is the case. I also believe that it is rediculous that we continue to talk about the mistakes going on over there however we have continued to ignore our mistakes.
Jeremy Dixon-
This kind of reporting a different view than that of the Iraqi priests because it gives a much wider perspective of more than just two pwoplw because the poll shows the views of people in different areas of the country, although they seem to be very similar. This poll is similar to that we heard from the Iraqi priests because we get the understanding that the situation in Iraq is not being resolved, it is just getting worse everyday. the Iraqis do not feel safe.
I do think the American media should join with the Brits and Japanese to do a poll because it is important to hear the views of American as well as all countries.
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